Janneke Straub, executive director
janneke.straub@aysymphony.org

Isabel Thiroux, orchestra manager
isabel.thiroux@aysymphony.org

Alice Dutton, development & audience relations coordinator
alice.dutton@aysymphony.org

David Spiro, grant writer and outreach consultant 

Cecily Lerner, marketing and development consultant

Eric Kurasch, accountant

About Janneke Straub

Driven by a deep love of music, Janneke Straub has worked for leading festivals and orchestras in Europe and in the United States, and developed a reputation as an exceptionally gifted fundraiser, informed administrator and creative young leader.

Janneke joined the American Youth Symphony as Executive Director in October 2008. Previously, she worked for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Consonances Festival in Saint-Nazaire and in London, and the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades. In her various capacities, she supported esteemed musicians and arts leaders including Sarah Chang, Johannes Moser, David Newman, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Steve Stucky, Alexandre Tharaud, Gary Hofman, Michel Lethiec, Philippe Graffin, Ernest Fleischmann and Deborah Borda.

She was hired by the Los Angeles Philharmonic upon her arrival in the United States in 1995, and over the following 13 seasons contributed significantly to the success of the orchestra’s fundraising campaigns, including the capital campaign for Walt Disney Concert Hall, the major gifts program, the New Music Commissioning and Esa-Pekka Salonen Funds, and the endowment campaign. In addition to her leadership in fundraising, she served as an ambassador to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, escorting Deborah Borda during the Walt Disney Concert Hall Opening Celebrations and guiding VIP on tours with the orchestra.

Born in a Dutch family, Janneke was raised in France. An accomplished flutist and chamber musician, she studied music at the Conservatoire National de Region de Nice, and Political Science and English Literature at La Sorbonne Nouvelle, University de Paris III, from which she graduated with a Bachelor in the Arts. Currently, Janneke serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of California Symphony Orchestras.

She resides in Los Angeles with her husband Gene and their two children, Juliette and Nicholas. In 2004, Gene and Janneke joined a group of families from their neighborhood to help found Larchmont Charter School, which has become a model school in California.